Las vegas – Army veteran Irwin James Senior never portrayed himself in Las Vegas Food Pantry. But with a certain income and rising grocery prices, he had no choice.
James told CBS News, “Because you now go to these shops, a packet of toilet tissues costs you $ 8, and it used to be $ 5 for 12-packs.” “Apart from helping senior citizens, everything is growing in this country.”
Most of the food in Helping Hands of Vegas Valley Food Pantry comes from three square food banks, a non -profit organization that supplies almost every major food pantry in southern Nevada.
“We are already hearing from our colleagues that they are feeling stress of increasing demand, more people coming to the door need help,” said three square president and CEO Beth Martino.
President Trump Recently passed Taxes and expenses plan, “large, beautiful bills,” supplementary nutrition support programs, or SNAP significantly change, which is previously known as food tickets.
Will pick up the state There are too much snap cost, and new, strict requirements for recipients.
“In a state like Nevada, we have very few options to raise more revenue to meet the financial demands of programs such as Snap and Medicade,” Martino said. “So the future is very uncertain for those people.”
The three -class warehouse felt a pinch in June when it had to struggle with a small food palette.
Martino said, “We were facing a real crisis, in which there was not enough food on our shelves to meet the need.”
As an analysis From three classes in May, one of the seven inhabitants in Southern Nevada is unsafe, which means they do not know where their next food is coming from. This year, the child’s hunger increased by 22% in this area that three classes serve, above 18% in 2024, As Non -profit data.
Clara Blackwell, a volunteer of helping hands, said, “It was very difficult to ask for help.”
Blackwell knows that the pantry takes courage to walk and ask for help. Her husband, son and granddaughter all died within a week of each other. On a certain income, she now helps volunteers here to know what he is kept.
“Recently, I have seen many people coming here,” Blackwell said. “They have no choice. They have no choice. I said,” Okay, you know what? Come come out and see what you can get. ”
